Evolution
by Illisandria Carthain
Summary: Dib just got his revenge, but how will it change the way he looks at the world? Part 2 of 3 in the Cycle of Life Trilogy.
1. Surprise, surprise!

Disclaimer: you know the drill…

-x-

Zim's fury was unparalleled as he ran towards the Membrane residence as stealthily as he could. _That Dib_, he thought, _he's going to pay for messing with the mighty Zim._ When he got near to the house he dashed behind a trash can, observing the house and calculating the route of least resistance; he then climbed swiftly up the tree that stood near the second story window and vaulted in to Dib's room, facing the treacherous Irken-human-boy. "You…" he hissed, "You filthy worm! I give you a superior Irken form and this is how you repay me?!" he gestured down at himself.

Dib snickered as he scanned the results of his revenge proudly, Zim was human! His normally green skin was now a pale ivory color, he had glossy black hair with two cowlicks that imitated antennae, and his eyes were a soft magenta. He stood a bit taller than he was originally so his Invader uniform only came down to his knees while his pants stopped at his calves and his boots and gloves barely fit. Also, his PAK seemed to have rejected his human form because with a simple jarring movement, it fell to the ground with a clatter though he picked it up quickly and hugged it to his lithe form.

"I said you'd regret messing with Dib Whateveryourlastnameis (A/N: "Dib's wonderful Life of Doom") and now you do!" the short Irken grinned evilly, their positions reversed.

"But how?"

"Remember that remote link you established between out PAKs so that I could give you the information on Earth you wanted?" Zim nodded, "Well after a bit of research and development, I sent a virus into your PAK that made it generate a foreign DNA sequence much like the one you hit me with only faster acting! Then it injected you with it, turning you into the thing you hated the most, an 'inferior' human."

"Wait, you gave me the cure to your issue to get your revenge on me for doing that you why?" Zim looked confused by his own logic, "That makes no sense…"

"Well…y'see the truth is - the thing I did only worked on your cells, not mine." Dib stared at his boots sheepishly, "You'd have to have a sample of the original DNA-thingy to reverse engineer the cure for me…"

Zim smirked, "Like I'll give you that filthy Dib-thing…" He crossed his arms in defiance and then winced as he felt the human flesh rub together. "What even makes you think that I'd give you the cure in the first place?" His pretty face twisted into a cruel sneer.

"Because, I have the cure to turn you back into your normal egotistical Irken self." His tongue snaked out from his mouth as he spit venom-filled words towards his foe, "And until you cure me, you're stuck that way."

"Y-you filthy little---" Zim struggled for the right word no longer able to form the Irken words he wanted to scream, his human tongue thick and heavy in his mouth, "How a, I supposed to resume my mission if I cannot access my base or even resume a normal human life?! And I am pretty sure that my attire at the moment would be considered indecent even by human standards."

"Well…" he smiled, I have the upper hand here now Zim, "Seeing as you gave me temporary access to your base, I think if I hacked the computer mainframe, I could get it to recognize your DNA signature and voice code as you again. As for clothes-" clothes flew out of the boy's closet as he used his PAK's tentacles to find the right outfit for his helpless arch-enemy. "Here."

Zim held the items of clothing at arms length as if they would bite him. Draped over his arms were a pair of jeans, a t-shirt emblazoned with a 'Z?', a pair of gloves, and a pair of boots. "You expect me to wear this?"

"Yeah, why?" he flippantly looked over his shoulder as he readied himself for the day, "Unless you feel like explaining to Mrs. Bitters why you're in the partial nude…"

"Ew…." Zim slipped into the clothes (along with pair of briefs courtesy of Dib) and then made a face, "They smell like human…."

"Get used to it, everything you touch'll smell like human now." Dib activated his disguise and gave Zim a look, "You coming?"

Zim said nothing and followed him through the door and past a very confused Gaz.

-x-

That day, Skool was abuzz with chatter over Zim's looks:

"Look at his height!!!"

"His skin's not green anymore!"

"Wow, he looks almost normal!"

Zim dismissed all the questions with one excuse, "They found a cure for my chronic pinkeye and my green skin!" Most everyone bought it.

-x-

As much as Dib loathed being Irken, he loved having this power over Zim. When Skool let out, Zim followed the kid to his base, "You stay out here while I deal with the gnomes and the computer, GIR'll be out to let you know it's safe to come in."

There was a long pause then a green blur shot out the front door and tackled Zim, "i'm sorry master!!!!!! i didn't know it was youuuuuu~" he began to shriek.

"GIR….get off…of me…" Zim gasped, his newly found spleen rupturing under the weight of the little robot.

"okeeeeedokeeee!!!!!!!!!" he hopped away as Zim took a labored breath and he launched into another excited tirade, "master can come home now, the dib made the computer let you in again!"

_So he kept his promise…_ he thought wearily,_ he must really want me to change him back…this is intriguing. I could use this to my advantage…_ "GIR, my human body needs to sleep. Wake me at six in the morning."

The robot's eyes glowed crimson, **YES SIR MY MASTER!!!!!**

Zim wearily crawled on to the couch and soon fell fast asleep.

**End pt1**

-x-

A/N: Yaaaaay!~ I finally got it done!!!!!


	2. Empathy

Disclaimer: You know I don't own any of this…

-x-

Zim awoke to GIR shaking him violently, "wakey-wakey master!!!!!"

He sat up blearily and rubbed the crust from his eyes, "What time is it?" he groaned, human bodies were so needy: twelve hours of sleep, constant food and fluids, relieving oneself of the excess waste, the list went on and on.

"six! just as you told me to!!!!!" GIR was shaking, "and all I had to do was play with piggy and minimoose for fourteen hours straight and your masters called to see how you were doing and-AAAAUGH!!!!!!" he screamed and then ran face-first into the wall.

**[NOT VERY SMART, IS HE?]** The computer drawled.

"You're one to talk…" Zim grumbled as he got his stuff together to go to Skool, and then he stopped abruptly. Something was off…but what? He opened his mouth again and shouted, "GIR, get up!!!!!" There it was. The pitch and timbre of his voice changed in that instant, going from his normal pitch to a high squeaky one and it seemed to pause in-between those two stages. "Computer, voice analysis!"

**[YOUR VOICE JUST 'CRACKED']**

"Define."

**[A SYMPTOM OF PUBERTY. WHEN A VOICE 'CRACKS', IT CHANGES PITCH DRASTICALLY CREATING A CRACKING SOUND IN THEIR TIMBRE]**

"Puberty? Define"

**[PUBERTY: THE STAGE IN-BETWEEN THE SMEET AND ADULT STAGES OF HUMAN LIFE WHERE A HORMONAL IMBALANCE CREATES A DRASTIC CHANGE IN THEIR PHYSICAL FORM, AND THEIR MENTAL PROCESSES. VARIES FROM MALE TO FEMALE]**

"WHAT?!!!!!" His voice cracked again, "Computer, analyze hormonal levels and compare."

**[ANALYZING...HORMONAL LEVELS DANGEROUSLY HIGH. CONCLUSION….YOU'RE GOING THROUGH PUBERTY]**

"High?!!!! This can't be…." He bit his nails (a habit he found revolting), "Computer state symptoms of male puberty."

**[PUBERTY IN A MALE HUMAN IS USUALLY CHARECTERIZED BY A SUDDEN GROWTH-SPURT, CHANGE IN VOICE PITCH, CHANGE IN MOOD, AND CHANGE IN MENTAL PROCESS]**

"Dib" he spit the word out in pure hatred, "That worm again!!!" he turned to face the squealing GIR who was flopping on the floor like a kid having a seizure, "GIR! Go get our friend Dib and bring him here."

"aw…so you're friends now? that's cute…"

"NO! I am NOT friends with that traitor!" he was seething. "Go get him now"

**YES MY MASTER!!!!** GIR flew off.

-x-

Dib landed face-first on the floor, right by Zim's feet, "Um….h-hi Zim…Did you sleep in that?" he suddenly covered the place his nose had been and winced, "You stink…"

"Yeah well, it's no thanks to you, you pitiful excuse for an Irken. Thanks to your genetic meddling, my entire being is changing in ways that cannot be comprehended by your puny minds!" Zim pouted.

"What changes?"

"I said you couldn't comprehend it!!!" Zim's voice cracked again. Seeing the look on Dib's face, he blushed a deep red in embarrassment.

Dib got this sly look that resembled that of a snake, "You're going through puberty, aren't you?" Zim shook his head, "No, I know it, you are going through puberty. You are!" He looked smug, "I knew that the Irken cells would speed up the assimilation process, but I didn't know that they'd make you accelerate into the teenager stages so quickly! I mean, I used my cells so…" his face lit up, "SWEET!!! I'm gonna go through puberty before the age of thirteen!!!" He did a little happy dance, GIR joined in.

Zim was seething, "YOU!!!! FIX THIS - **NOW**!!!!!!!"

Dib stood amazed, "Fix what?"

"This 'puberty' thing. Fix it!"

"Well….I can't"

"Y-What do you mean you can't?!"

"It's a chemical change, even if I wanted to, I couldn't stop it. You have to go through it in its entirety." Dib was serious, "Besides, at the rate you're growing, if I change you back, you'll be as tall as the Tallest if not a few inches taller."

"Wait, what?!!! You said 'if I turn you back'!!! What do you mean 'if'?!!! And why would I remain the same height?!"

"Well, unless you cure me, you're stuck like that so that 'if' is dependant upon you and your actions. As for the height thing, when you turn back into an Irken your skeletal structure doesn't change all that much so you'll remain about the same height as you were in your human form. That will probably confound the Tallest…"

"YOU LIEEEEE!!!!!!" Zim's motto was, 'If you don't like it, accuse them of lying'. "There is no way on Irk I could be taller than the Tallest! That would be heretical!"

"Well…that's your issue then… and-" he paused and made a face, "Take a bath…please…" Dib ran out the door and hightailed it to Skool, disguise in place.

Zim stared at the running boy; "I really hate him…" his hate was half-hearted though. Something inside of him had changed; he seemed to hate the Earth and the humans less and less with each passing hour. It unnerved him to no extent.

-x-

Zim skipped Skool that day and went sightseeing as a human for the first time. He just walked around the park, the city square, the beach, and enjoyed the scenery. Somehow, he had this odd respect for the humans now. They could survive when bogged down by pollution that was only matched on Vorgas III, when faced with world-wide hunger, when faced with impending war, when faced with natural disasters, even when faced with an alien invasion they still seemed to build their nation back from the ashes and ruins to survive longer and adapt. They truly were an interesting species, even if their life-expectancy was low and they were a bit stupid and shortsighted.

_Why do I even care?!_ He thought, _Why do I even give a flying flip about these creatures?! Why did me changing into one of them make me so weak?..._Then he sat on a bench and put his head in his hands. _Irk this is confusing…_

-x-

Dib was surprised that Zim didn't come to Skool, though he couldn't blame him, his appearance had changed so drastically that he probably couldn't brush it all off as puberty What surprised him more was that he was waiting for him at the stoop of the Skool looking a tad confused.

"Zim?" he asked concerned, "Where were you?"

"Nowhere…" Zim sighed and then he gave Dib a strange look, "I see why you like this planet so much…it's a very nice place."

"…are you okay?"

"yeah…not really" he sighed again. "I think I may have the brain worms…"

"Why?" Dib quirked an eyebrow in genuine concern.

"Well…I seem to be developing feelings for your people, I-I enjoy the heat of your star on my face, the feel of the breeze in my hair, the smells of the food that you cook and eat…I-I don't want to destroy this place any longer! I actually like it here---!" He began to cry.

Dib smiled softly, "Don't worry Zim - it's just a sensory overload. You're experiencing what we humans call empathy, or the ability to relate with other humans. It's only normal..." He patted his back gently.

"But I'm an Invader!!!!! I'm not supposed to relate to the natives on my planet, I'm supposed to hate them or at least feel apathy towards them!" He began to sob, "How am I supposed to face the Tallest now that I have identified with you humans?!"

"Well…"

Zim's eyes opened wide and he looked back at Dib in shock, "The Tallest!!! GIR said that they had called and that they were wondering where I had been!!!! What if they had seen me like this?! Me, the amazing Zim fallen to human form!!!! They would have good cause to exile me to some unknown obscure planet for the rest of my life cycle!!!" Dib just grinned knowingly. He then got up and looked down at his lanky form in disgust, back to his full egotistical, human-hating self. "Fine-!" he spat in Dib's direction, "I'll play your little mind game, but you'd better have that cure ready by the time I see you again or you'll regret the day you ever messed with Ziiim!" Then he ran off.

"Well that was unexpected…" Dib shook his head and laughed, "Well, I'd better go get that cure ready."

But neither of them had their hearts truly in it for some odd reason.

**End Evolution**

-x-

A/N: This ended quicker than I thought…ah well. On to the next (and final) segment. Hope you enjoy this! Sorry if it came off as ZADR-ish…that was unintentional.


End file.
